DULLES, Va., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- ORBIMAGE announced today that it has been presented with RADARSAT International"s Outstanding Distributor Award for excellence in sales in Eastern North America. The award was presented to ORBIMAGE at RSI"s International Distributor meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 16th, 2002.

Since November 1999, ORBIMAGE has been successfully marketing and selling increasing amounts of radar image data from the RADARSAT-1 satellite to commercial and government users in the U.S. marketplace. Due to the growing demand in the U.S. for such quality satellite imagery, ORBIMAGE purchased the exclusive marketing rights in the U.S. to sell data from RADARSAT-2, the follow-on satellite planned for launch in late 2003. Once launched, RADARSAT- 2 will further enhance ORBIMAGE"s product line offering of high-resolution optical image products with radar imagery from the world"s most advanced commercial high-resolution Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR) satellite. RADARSAT-2 is designed to provide users with 24-hour, all-weather image acquisition capabilities with a resolution of up to three meters.

"ORBIMAGE is honored to receive this recognition from RADARSAT International for our achievement in selling RADARSAT-1 data to the U.S. user community," says Timothy J. Puckorius, ORBIMAGE"s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing & Sales. "We continue to work hard to provide our U.S. based customers with the best image products and services our industry has to offer. RADARSAT-1 data has been a critical element to ORBIMAGE"s current product line. It"s a powerful data product that complements our optical capabilities which we hope to further expand with the enhanced capabilities of RADARSAT-2."

About RADARSAT International (RSI)

RSI, a subsidiary of MacDonald Dettwiler has been providing Earth- observation data and derived information products, as well as leading-edge services to global clients since 1989. The company combines its experience and service with the strengths of its worldwide partners -- (and the capabilities their sensors represent) -- to support global applications ranging from environmental monitoring and natural resource management to marine oil surveillance, defense, and mapping. More information about RSI can be found at http://www.rsi.ca.

About ORBIMAGE

ORBIMAGE is a leading global provider of Earth imagery products and services, with a planned constellation of four digital remote sensing satellites. The company currently operates the OrbView-1 atmospheric imaging satellite launched in 1995, the OrbView-2 ocean and land multispectral imaging satellite launched in 1997, and a worldwide integrated image receiving, processing and distribution network. Currently under development, ORBIMAGE"s OrbView-3 high-resolution satellite will offer one-meter panchromatic and four-meter multispectral digital imagery on a global basis. ORBIMAGE is also the exclusive U.S. distributor of worldwide imagery from the Canadian RADARSAT-2 satellite. More information about ORBIMAGE can be found at http://www.orbimage.com.